Beyoncé Joins Disney’s ‘Lion King’ Remake, in a Role Fit for a Queen

Beyoncé — as close as any modern artist to royalty status in American pop music — will play the queen to be of the Pride Lands in Disney’s coming live-action remake of “The Lion King.”

The studio confirmed Tuesday that she will voice the role of Nala, opposite Donald Glover’s Simba, in the classic coming-of-age tale set among the animal kingdom of the African savanna.

The star-studded cast will also include James Earl Jones — reprising his role as Mufasa from the 1994 animated version — Chiwetel Ejiofor in the part of Scar, and a new spin on a vintage odd couple: Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa.

The new “King” will make a play for a box office coronation in July 2019. It will join a string of live-action adaptations (with a healthy dose of state-of-the-art visual effects) that have been reliable hits for Disney in recent years, following “Beauty and the Beast” this year, “The Jungle Book” in 2016 and “Cinderella” in 2015. Jon Favreau, who helmed the recent “Jungle Book,” will direct.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page C2 of the New York edition with the headline: Beyoncé Joins Remake Of ‘The Lion King’. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe